Time announcing apparatus



Nov. 22, 1949 J. w. WELLS TIME ANNOUNCING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1'7, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

JOHN 'W. WELLS ATTORNEY Nov, 22, 1949 J. w. WELL.S 2,488,840

TIME'ANNOUNCING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOHN W. WELLS ATTORNEY Nov. 22, 1949 J. w. WELLS TIME ANNOUNCING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 17, 1945 INVENTOR. JOHN W. WELLS ATTORN EY Patented Nov. 22, 1949 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE John W. Wells, Red Blufi, Calif. Application August 17, 1945, Serial No. 610,887

14 Claims. 1

The present invention relates in general to time announcing apparatus such as may be'used to give time signals to telephone subscribers, and in particular to improvements in time announcing apparatus of the type disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,936,700, issued November 28, 1933.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide an improved apparatus for announcing the time of day which is simple and economical in construction, which is rugged and durable so as to require practically no maintenance, and which is adapted to provide a readily changed commercial announcement between time signals.

A feature of the invention is a novel ratchet driving mechanism for intermittently advancing a flat record medium so as to cause parallel sound tracks photographically recorded thereon to be successively scanned by a reciprocating photoelectric pickup, and for relocating the first sound track in the scanning path after the last sound track has been scanned by the pickup.

Another feature of the invention relates to the operation of the above ratchet driving mechanism by the pickup carriage at one end of its travel whereby positive synchronization between the movements of the pickup and of the record medium is obtained.

Still another feature of the invention is the novel mechanism for advancing a record from one sound track to the next each time that the movement of another record has been scanned a predetermined number of times, and for resetting said one record after the last sound track thereon has been scanned.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear upon a further perusal of the specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view of the time announcing machine,

Fig. 2 is a top view with the record unit removed to disclose the interior of the machine,

Fig. 3 is a front View with the front cover plate removed,

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken at the section AA of Fig. 3, and 1 Figs. 5 through 9 show various details of the ratchet driving mechanism for intermittently advancing the records.

Considered briefly, the invention comprises a frame including ways upon which a carriage supporting a photoelectric sound head is slidably secured. A chain drive, which is continuously driven by a constant speed motor, is provided to impart reciprocating motion to the carriage. The sound head comprises a photoelectric cell mounted directly above the ways anda light source supported above the .cell by (Cl. 1'Z9100.3)

a, U-shaped arm extending from the carriage. A plate is supported between the photoelectric cell and the light source by the frame. A narrow slit is provided in this plate through which aribbon of light projected by the source is permitted to impinge on the photoelectric cell.; The slit extends parallel to the ways for a distance equal to the stroke of the carriage and defines a scanning path for the sound head. Three separate records having sound tracks photographically recorded thereon are mounted on the above plate. The first record has a singlesound track which is fixedly aligned with they slit in the plate. This track may convey an advertising message or. may simply convey the opening phrase of a time announcement; such as, The time is now.

The second record has twelve parallel sound tracks each conveying a corresponding .hour of the day; such as, one, two, etc. Thisrecord is slidably secured to the plate so, as to permit any one of its twelve. sound tracks to be aligned with the slit located in the scanning path of the sound head.

The third record has sixty parallel sound tracks, each conveying a corresponding minute; suchas, one, two, thirty-two, etc. One of these tracks may have oclock recorded thereon so that on each hour an announcement suchas The time is now eleven oclock is obtained while atthe other times an announcement such as The time is now eleven-sixteen will be. given. A ratchet mechanism is provided which is advanced one step by the carriage each time it reaches one end of its travel. After a predetermined number of steps the ratchet mechanism moves the third record, at right angles to the scanning path, a distance equal to the spacing between the sound tracks thereon. After the last sound track has been scanned said predetermined number of times a holding pawl of the ratchet mechanism is released to permit the record to be returned to its starting position. At the same time a carry-over mechanism is operated to advance the second record to the next sound track thereon. The second record is returned to its starting position in a similar manner after the last sound track thereon has been scanned. a predetermined numberof times. The second and third records are each biased towards their starting positions by friction clutches driven by the carriage driving motor.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the numeral i denotes a pair of end frames upstanding from a base 2. Secured to and extending between the end frames is a pair of parallel rods 3, which are the ways upon which the sound head carriage 4 is slidably secured. An arm'5 is secured to each of the end frames immediately below the front one of the rods 3. Journaled in "of the carriage 4 along the rods 3.

3 each of these arms is a shaft 6 having a sprocket wheel secured to one end thereof. An endless chain 1 extends between and around these two sprocket wheels. A vertical shaft 8, which is driven through suitable reduction gearing by a constant speed motor 9, is journaled in the right arm and drives the right shaft 6 through helical gears l9. Depending from the carriage 4 are two studs II which are bridged by a yoke l2. One link of the chain 7 has a pin extending therefrom which is rotatably secured in the yoke l2. The yoke I2 is free to slide vertically on the studs Two spoois I3 are rotatably mounted on the forwardly extending portion of the right shaft 6. Felt washers are used between each spool and discs which rotate with the shaft. The rear disc I4 is fixed to the shaft but the forward disc I5 is slidable thereon. A helical spring l6 biases the forward disc l5 towards the rear disc Hi thereby providing a frictional coupling between the spools l3 and the shaft 6 through the felt washem. The forwardly extending portion of the left shaft 9 has a worm |i' secured thereto which engages a worm-wheel |8 secured to one end of a vertical shaft ls which is journaled in a bracket 29 extending from the left arm 5. Secured to the left arm 5 is a set of cam springs 2| which are operated by a cam 22 secured to the lower end of shaft Ia. These cam springs are employed to mute an amplifier associated with the sound head during the return stroke thereof in any well known manner.

Integrally cast with the carriage 4 is a hollow U-shaped arm 23 to the upper end of which a housing 24 is secured. Within the housing 24 is a lamp and optical system for projecting a ribbon of light down to a photoelectric cell located within the hollow arm 23 immediately above the carriage 4. A portion 25 of the arm 23 which encloses the photoelectriccell is removable to permit ready access thereto. The portion 25 covering the cell is provided with a small opening to permit the ribbon of light, projected by the optical system in the housing 24, to fall on the photoelectric cell while excluding stray light therefrom. The lamp within the housing 24 is energized through a flexible cord 26 and the photoelectric cell in the arm 23 is connected to the input of a suitable amplifier, not shown, by another flexible cord 21.

Supported on top of and extending between the 'end frames I is a plate 28, the front and rear portions of which are formed at an angle to provide increased rigidity. A narrow slit 29, which is slightly wider than the width of a sound track such as is used on motion picture films, extends nearly the entire length of plate 28 and is aligned with the path traversed by the light beam projected from the housing 24 during the movement The first rec- 'ord 30, upon which the commercial announcement or introductory phrase is photographically recorded, is clamped to the plate 28 with the sound track aligned with the slit 29. This record covers substantially one-half the length of the slit 29. The record may either take the form of a film or a glass plate. This first record is not moved during the operation of the machine but is clamped so as to permit ready substitution of other records. The second record 3| and third record 32 comprises glass plates having 12 and 60 parallel sound tracks, respectively, photographically recorded thereon. The portions of slit 29 which are not covered by the record plates are preferably partially closed, or covered by a translucent member which may be secured to the underside of plate 28, so as to avoid any thumps in the output of the amplifier associated with the sound head, which thumps would otherwise be produced by the sudden change in the amount of light reaching the photoelectric cell whenever the light beam left, or reached, one of the record plates. The right edges of the second and third plates are clamped between a pair of metal strips such as 33 and 34 in Fig. 6. The lower strips fit into grooves 35 and 36 milled in the plate 28 so that the glass plates are flush with plate 28. The upper strips slide in horizontal slots milled in bars 31 and 38, which are secured to plate 28. Additional strips, such as T5, are secured to the bars 31 and 38 and these strips fit into grooves milled in the top surfaces of the upper clamping strips, such as 34. Racks 39 and 49 are secured to the two upper clamping strips. The first rack 39 has 13 teeth and the second rack 40 has 61 teeth. Substantially identical mechanisms are employed for advancing these racks step-by-step and returning them to the starting position, therefore only one mechanism need be described in detail.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 5 to 9, a block 4| is secured on top of bar 38. A shaft 42, to one end of which a holding pawl 43 is secured, is journaled in this block. A slot is milled in the under side of the block at right angles to, and intersecting, the hole in which shaft 42 is j ournaled. A portion of shaft 42 is milled flat at the point where it intersects the groove in the block. An L-shaped member 44 is slidably secured in this groove and has a saw-tooth shaped notch milled in it, which notch is normally aligned with the flattened portion of shaft 42. When the member 44 is pushed forward, it raises the pawl 43 out of engagement with the rack 49, as shown in Fig. 9. When member 44 is in its normal position the holding pawl 43 is permitted to engage the rack 43, as shown in Fig. 8, and is biased towards this position by a helical spring 45, one end of which is secured in a hole in the end of shaft 42 and the other end of which engages the under side of block 4|. An arm 46 is pivotally secured to block 4| by means of a shoulder screw 41. A driving pawl 48 is pivotally secured to one end of arm 46 and is biased towards the rack 49 by means of a helical spring 49. The driving pawl 48 is normally held out of engagement with the rack 40 by a pin 50 extending from block 4| and engaging the under surface of pawl 48. The lower surface of this pawl is shaped so as to permit it to fall into engagement with rack 45, when the pawl is moved forward by clockwise rotation of arm 46, to advance the rack 49 one tooth pitch each time that the cam 5| projecting from ratchet wheel 52 engages the right end of arm 46. The ratchet wheel 52 is rotatably secured to a vertical shaft 53 which is journaled in the plate 28, as may be seen in Fig. 3. An arm 54 extending from the lower end of this shaft is engaged by a boss 14 on the arm 23 of the sound head, when the carriage 4 reaches one end of its travel, thereby causing shaft 53 to rotate clockwise as viewed from above. The motion thus imparted to shaft 53 is transmitted to a second arm 55 extending from the upper end of shaft 53. Arm 55 is biased counter-clockwise against a stop 56 by a helical spring 51. A pawl 58, pivotally secured to the arm 55 by a pin 59, is biased into engagement with the ratchet wheel 52 by a helical spring 69. Each time that the carriage 4 reaches the right limit of its travel the pawl "58 advances ratchet wheel 52 one tooth pitch. A holding pawl 5|, which is .pivotally secured to plate 28 by a shoulder screw 62 and is biased into engagement with ratchet wheel 52 by a helical spring 63, prevents counterclockwise rotation of ratchet wheel 52 during the return movement of pawl 58. If ratchet wheel 52 is provided with ten teeth, as indicated, then ten complete scanning operations will be completed between each operation of arm t6 and consequent change of the record 32 to a succeeding sound track. Thus the time announcements will be repeated at six second intervals and changed every minute.

' In order to reset the record 32, after the last sound track thereon has been scanned the required number of times, two pins 64 and 65 project vertically from the upper clamping strip 34. When the record 32 is advanced beyond the last sound track, pin 65 engages member 43 and carries it forward thereby raising the holding pawl 43 out of engagement with rack to. As soon as the driving pawl restores and is raised out of engagement with rack 48 by pin 50 the plate 32 is returned to its starting position by the winding of cable 56 on one of the spools IS. The cable 66 is secured at one end to one of the spools l3, passes over a pulley 6'1, and is secured at its other end to the upper clamping plate 34. By adjusting the nuts 68 on the end of shaft 6 the tension of spring it may be varied to adjust the tension in cable 66. When the record 32 is returned to the starting position pin 64 engages member 44 and returns it to normal, thus permitting the holding pawl 43 to fall into engagement with rack 40.

At the same time that pin 65 engages member 44 and pushes it forward, the pin engages the right end of arm 69 and rotates it counter-clockwise. Arm 69, which is pivotally secured to a fixed member H by a shoulder screw E2, in turn causes arm it, which is pivotally secured to member l! by shoulder screw 13, to rotate clockwise. The movement thus imparted to arm 10 advances the second record 3| in the same manner that the movement of arm 46 advances record 32. Record 3! is returned to its starting position, when it is advanced beyond the last sound track thereon, in the same manner as just described for record 32.

While the particular arrangement herein disclosed provides time announcements at six second intervals, which announcements are changed at one minute intervals, it should be apparent that numerous modifications in this arrangement may readily be made to suit particular requirements. For example, the number of sound tracks on record 32 may be increased to 240 to provide time announcements which are changed at fifteen second intervals. By varying the number of teeth on ratchet 52, and by changing the number of scanning operations per unit of time, each announcement may be given only once or may be repeated as often as desired. Also an additional record may be added to give time announcements in fractions of a minute, a carry-over mechanism would then be used to step the minute record 3| each time the added record was returned to its starting position. If the first'record conveys an advertising message it may be desirable to provide a ratchet mechanism, similar to those employed with the other records, to move the'record transversely to the scanning path at periodic intervals to change the advertising message.

While the record mediums have been described I as glass plates it should be apparent that a film supported in a rigid frame may also be used. However, the use of glass plates is preferable since they are not subject to warping and cracking as film is.

What is claimed is:

1. In a time announcing system, a plurality of records each having parallel sound tracks photographically recorded thereon, said records being disposed in a common plane with the sound tracks in alignment, a photoelectric reproducer, means for imparting reciprocating movement to said reproducer so as to cause it to scan a track on each of said records in succession, and means operated intermittently to move said records in said plane transversely to the scanning path to expose difierent ones of said tracks to the reproducer in accordance with the time of day.

2. In a time announcing system, a plurality of records each having parallel sound tracks thereon, a reproducer, means for imparting reciprocating movement to said reproducer so as to cause it to scan a track on each of said records in succession, ratchet means operated at predetermined time intervals for moving one of said records transversely to the scanning path to expose a different one of the tracks recorded thereon to said reproducer, and a second ratchet means operated by said first ratchet means after a predetermined number of operations thereof for moving another of said records transversely to the scanning path to expose a different one of the tracks recorded thereon to said reproducer.

3. In a time announcing apparatus, a pair of records each having parallel sound tracks thereon, said records being disposed adjacent one another with their sound tracks aligned, a reproducer mounted on a carriage movable in a fixed path across both records, means to reciprocate said carriage along said path, a ratchet mechanism operated by the movement of said carriage at one end of its travel for intermittently moving one of said records transversely to said path to cause the sound tracks thereon to be successively scanned by said reproducer, a second ratchet mechanism for similarly moving the other of said records, and a mechanical linkage between said ratchet mechanisms for operating said second ratchet mechanism in response to a predetermined number of operations of said first ratchet mechanism.

4. In a time announcing system, a pair of records each having parallel sound tracks photographically recorded thereon, said records being disposed adjacent one another with their sound tracks aligned, a photoelectric reproducer movable in a fixed path across both of said records, means to reciprocate said reproducer along said path, intermittently operated means for moving one of said records transversely to said path to cause the sound tracks thereon to be successively scanned by said'reproducer, means for similarly moving the other of said records, and a mechanical linkage between said intermittently operated means and said last means for operating the latter in response to a predetermined number of operations of the former.

5. In an announcing system, a record having parallel sound tracks thereon, said record being disposed entirely in a single plane, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across saidrecord and in a single plane perpendicular to the plane of said record, means to reciprocate said reproducer along said path, said record being biassed to move in one direction transversely to said path, a rack secured to said record, a holding pawl normally engaged with said rack to prevent movement 01,

1 said record in said one direction, a driving. pawl normally disengaged from said rack, means for intermittently operating said driving pawl into engagement with said rack to move said record transversely to said path in the opposite direction thereby causing said reproducer to scan said sound tracks successively, means operated by the advancement of said record to a predetermined position for disengaging said holding pawl from said rack to permit said record to move in said one direction, said last means being restored by the return of said record to its starting position.

6. In an announcing system as claimed in claim 5, a constantly rotating shaft, a rotatable member frictionally coupled to said shaft, and a mechanical coupling between said member and said record to bias the same to move in said one direction.

7. In a time announcing system, a first plane record having a sound track photographically recorded thereon, a plurality of further plane records each having parallel sound tracks photographically recorded thereon, a photoelectric reproducer, means for imparting reciprocating movement to said reproducer so as to cause it to scan a track on each of said records in succession, means operated intermittently to move said further records transversely to the scanning path to expose different ones of the tracks thereon to the reproducer in accordance with the time of day, said first record conveying an introductory phrase or announcement and being arranged to permit ready substitution of other records conveying different announcements.

8. In an announcing system, a record having parallel sound tracks thereon, said record being disposed entirely in a single plane, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across said record and in a single plane perpendicular to the plane of said record, means to reciprocate said reproducer along said path to scan a track on said record, and means operated intermittently to move said record in said plane transversely to the scanning path to cause said tracks to be scanned successively by said reproducer.

9. In an announcing system, a plane record having parallel sound tracks thereon, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across said record, means to reciprocate said reproducer along said path to repeatedly scan a track on said record, means operated intermittently to move said record in one direction transversely to the scanning path to cause a second track to be scanned repeatedly and to cause subsequent tracks to be scanned successively and repeatedly by said re:- producer, and means operated in response to the advancement of said record to a predetermined position for efiecting a return movement of said record in the opposite direction.

10. In a time announcing system, a pair of records each having parallel. sound tracks thereon, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across both of said records to scan a track on each of said records in succession, means to reciprocate said reproducer along said path, means operated intermittently to move one of said records in one direction transversely to thescanning. path to cause the tracks thereon to be successively scanned by said reproducer, means operated in. response to the advancement of said one record to a predetermined position for efiecting a return movement of said one record in the opposite direction, means for similarly advancing the. other of said records in one direction. transversely to the scanning path, and means operated in response. to the advancement of said one record to said. predetermined position. for operating said last means.

11. In an announcing system, a record having parallel sound tracks thereon, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across said record, means to reciprocate said reproducer along said path to scan a track on said record, contacts operated by said means for disabling said reproducer during the return movement thereof, and means operated intermittently to move said record transversely to the scanning path to cause said tracks to be scanned successively by said reproducer.

12. In an announcing system, a record having parallel sound tracks thereon, said record being disposed entirely in a single plane, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across said record, means to reciprocate said reproducer along said path. to scan a track on said record, means operated by said last means for disabling said reproducer during the return movement only thereof, and means operated intermittently to move said record in said plane transversely to the scanning path to cause said tracks to be scanned successively by said reproducer.

13. In a time announcing system, a plurality of records each having parallel sound tracks thereon, said records being disposed in a common plane with the sound tracks in alignment, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across said records so as to scan a track on each of said records in succession, and means operated intermittently to move said records independently in said plane transversely to the scanning path to cause different combinations of the sound tracks thereon to be scanned by the reproducer in accordance with the time of day.

14. In an announcing system, a first plane record having a sound track thereon, a second plane record having a plurality of parallel sound tracks thereon, a reproducer movable in a fixed path across said records so as to scan the first track and one of the other tracks in succession, and means operated at times to move said second record transversely to the scanning path to cause different ones of the sound tracks thereon to be scanned by the reproducer, said first record conveying an introductory phrase or announcement and being arranged to permit ready substitution of other records conveying difierent announcements.

JOHN W. WELLS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,618,242 Thompson Feb. 22, 1927 1,789,607 Steurer Jan. 20, 1931 1,866,606 Warner July 12, 1932 2,002,352 Owens May 21, 1935 2,005,596 Scheibell June 18, 1935 2,124,673 Puma July 26, 1938 2,289,555 Simons July 14, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 435,326 Germany Oct. 12, 1946 

